ING Real Estate Finance Names Michael Shields Managing Director and Head of ING Real Estate Finance for the Americas

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- ING Real Estate Finance today announced that Michael Shields has been promoted to Managing Director and head of ING Real Estate Finance for the Americas. In his new role, Shields is responsible for the company's $6.7 billion real estate loan portfolio in the Americas, consisting of term loans, construction loans and subordinate debt.

Shields, who possesses 20 years of experience in real estate lending, asset management, restructuring and workouts, is also responsible for growing ING Real Estate Finance's portfolio in the Americas by executing investments in cash-flowing, high-quality real estate assets, and positioning the company to borrowers with a proven track record in real estate development and management.

Rudolf Molkenboer, Global Head of ING Real Estate Finance, said "Michael Shields is a veteran of ING Real Estate Finance and brings a wealth of institutional knowledge and expertise to his new position. We are confident that under his leadership, ING Real Estate Finance will continue to offer clients best-in-class real estate lending solutions, drawing on our local market expertise as well as our global service platform."

Since joining ING Real Estate Finance in 2004, Shields has been directly responsible for more than $5 billion in new loan originations for U.S. real estate properties. Over the past two years alone, Shields and his team have restructured $2.5 billion of real estate loans.

"ING Real Estate Finance is uniquely positioned in the marketplace, having always maintained a conservative approach to investing in high-quality, revenue-producing assets with creditworthy borrowers," stated Shields. "Our team has established deep relationships with many of the nation's most reputable real estate companies, and I look forward to building upon this success as we explore and identify new opportunities for continued growth."

Shields' previous experience includes serving in the real estate finance group of BHF Capital/PB Capital in New York and Bonn, Germany, where he was a senior loan originator and relationship manager for both U.S. and German clients. Earlier in his career, he was employed in the real estate finance groups of Helaba and Chemical Bank.

About ING Real Estate Finance

ING Real Estate Finance is one of the leading commercial real estate lenders with a portfolio of over 37 billion. We provide global coverage to clients from offices in Europe, Asia, US and Australia.

ING Real Estate Finance is part of ING Group, a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to over 85 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 40 countries.

SOURCE ING Real Estate Finance